Under An Angel's Care
by SterlingSilverWolf
Summary: Angel has returned to Izayoi once again for a visit.Trouble brews when pollution puts the life of a little salamander in danger. Will Stitch and his friends save him and the polluted river? Will Angel learn to care for all living things? Read to find out.
1. Chapter 1

Under an Angel's Care

Chapter 1

Another sunny day on the tropical island of Izayoi. The local birds were singing, and the sun was warming the ocean waters. Townsfolk went about their various businesses. While a familiar blue creature was darting into and out of various shops. Stitch was on a little shopping spree.

He had just gotten some important news, and he wanted to be prepared. His girlfriend Angel, was coming to the island again, having taken a break from her music career just to visit her friends. Especially Stitch. Stitch was giddy with excitement. He was also nervous at the same time. Any foul up he would make around Angel, would cause her to be really angry with him.

He gulped at the thought. Stitch got the last of gifts for Angel taken care of and he made his way to the dock.

Not too far behind was Stitch's friends. Yuna, Pleakley, Sae, little Boogoo were chasing after him. They usually like to watch Stitch and Angel in hope things would go well between them. "Stitch sure can run." Sae said trying to keep up. "When Angel comes to the island he's always like this." Yuna said as she ran.

"Ah, the wonders of love." Pleakley said as he ran. "So beautiful and yet at the same time so painful."

Just then, he felt a sharp pain in two of his three legs. "Ah!" Pleakley exclaimed. He hopped on his good leg while clutching the two in pain. The girls became concerned. They stopped running. "Though a cramp is probably more painful!" Pleakley said.

Stitch rushed as fast as he could toward the dock. He made just as soon as Angel hopped off of her yacht.

"Angel!" Stitch exclaimed as he ran toward her with the many gifts he had in his arms. Angel saw him. "Bujiboo!" She cried happily. "I sure hope this goes well." Yuna said as she, Sae, Pleakley and Boogoo peeked from behind a wall. They watched intently.

Stitch kept running excitedly towards Angel. He failed to notice a wet spot on the concrete of the dock. It had rained the night before. "Bujiboo look out!" Angel cried noticing the water on the ground. Too late. Stitch ran right in it's path and began to lose his balance. The gifts in his arms didn't help. "Oh no, not again." Yuna said from the wall. "It's Valentine's day all over again." said Pleakley. Boogoo covered his eyes with his little appendages. Angel braced herself. Stitch fell over backwards onto his backside.

His gifts went flying. "Oof!" He said. Then he remembered. Angel. He got up and tried to catch his merchandise.

He flashed around desperately hurrying to get everything. Unfortunately, he missed one.

"Eek!" He heard. "Uh oh…" Stitch said. He gulped. He did it again! "Angel?" He asked. He looked to see Angel was still standing up, but with a white box over her head.

Stitch felt his heart sink. "Oh man…" Yuna said covering her eyes. "Gaba iki?" Angel asked, unusually calm from under the box.  
"Stitch sorry!" He wailed. Stitch pulled the box slowly from Angel's head. And on Angel's head, instead of a cake, was a lovely purple ladies had.  
Synthetic blue flowers pinned to where the crown meets the brim puffed up as Stitch removed the box.

Stitch looked panicked. He didn't even see the hat on Angel's head, for he closed her eyes so he wouldn't see the expression on her face. Angel was curious as to what was on her head this time. It didn't feel like anything bad

But she wanted to be sure. She took out a compact mirror from her tote-along suitcase.

Stitch looked like he was gearing up to be hit. "Bujiboo!" Angel exclaimed. Stitch braced himself. But instead of a scolding, Stitch received a big hug. Stitch opened his eyes. "Huh?" Stitch asked. Angel purred. "Meega love it." She said. "Morecheeba."

Stitch gave out a sigh of relief and returned her hug. Yuna, Sae, Pleakley, and Boogoo, all gave out a unanimous sigh of relief. "Whew." Yuna said. "That was close."

"Ah, young love." Pleakley said. He then pulled out a small video camera. "What are you doing?" Sae asked.

"Taking video for America's Gushiest Home Love Stories." He said. "America's what?" Sae asked. "We're not even in America." Yuna pointed out. "No worries." Pleakley said. "That's what air mail is for. Now. I just need the perfect angle." "Boogoo." The little floating creature said.

He held up a scene marker. Pleakley reached down and pulled a baret, also known as his "directorial skull protector," and placed it on his head.

"Action!" Pleakley said.

"Ok, who's hungry?" Yuna asked. They had come to her house, where Angel would be staying. Angel and Stitch both raised their hands. So did Boogoo. Well he raised whatever it was he used for hands. "Gramma! We're home!" Yuna called. As if on cue, Yuna's grandmother came into the room, holding some type of platter. "Oh, you're here."

She said. "Welcome." She pet Angel. The pretty pink alien purred.

"What's on the platter?" Sae asked.

"Lunch." Gramma said. She lay the platter on the table for the others to see. Stitch's eyes went wide. "Oooh." He said. His mouth watered at the sight of many assorted fruits. "Stitch." Yuna said. "Huh?" He said.

"If you keep drooling like that, you'll drown us all." said Yuna. "Oops." Stitch said, before covering his mouth.

Boogoo grinned and scarfed up a grape with his tongue. "So Angel, what brings you back to the island?" Yuna asked. "Vacation." Angel said. "and visit Bujiboo." Stitch blushed and got a goofy love struck look in his face, making Angel smile. "Glad to see you're not still sore about that Valentine's day thing." Yuna said with a smile. "Is you're singing career going well?" "Ih." Angel replied with a nod. Stitch smiled. He picked various bits of fruit and stacked them on one of his claws as they were shish kabob. He stuffed the whole thing in his mouth. Everyone laughed. "Hey, how about after lunch we can walk through the Chitama forest?" Yuna suggested. "The plants probably look nice since the rainstorm last night. The sunlight on the water drops on the leaves just make them shimmer like stars."

Angel purred. She liked the idea of seeing something pretty. "I'd love to Yuna but I need to do laundry. Jumba needs to wash his shirts and I'm the only one that does it." Pleakley said. Boogoo just nodded and agreed to help with a "Boogoo." "How about you Sae?" Yuna asked. "It does sound fun, but I need to do some shopping later." Sae said. "Oh." Yuna said, sounding disappointed.

"Hmm." She looked at the pink and blue couple before her. Yuna's frown quickly became a smile. "Well I guess it's you, me, and Angel Stitch!" She said happily. Stitch cheered. "A walk with da bujiboo!" Stitch said spinning on his head. He laughed happily as he did this, making Angel giggle. "You're going to love it Angel." Yuna said. "Not only will we get to see plants, but lots of little creatures like to come out after a rainstorm. Last time I took a walk, I got to see probably the biggest Stag Beetle on the island." Angel looked at her, eyes wide. Yuna saw this. "Uh, you ok Angel?" Yuna asked. "Bujiboo?" Stitch asked. 

"Bugs…" She began. Stitch, Yuna, and the others looked at her. Angel felt her skin crawling. "Iky!" She exclaimed.

She started moving about like a girl that just saw a mouse crawl across the floor, exclaiming in her alien language how much she didn't like bugs and other such "iky" things. "Well, there's other things too." Yuna said. "Lots of cool frogs and salamanders love it when it's wet." Angel's expression didn't improve. "Blech!" She said. Stitch frowned. "Angel not want to go?" He asked. Angel looked at him. He looked disappointed.

"Naga." she said. "Meega go with Yuna and bujiboo." Stitch and Yuna beamed. Stitch hugged her.

"Bootifa!" He exclaimed. He broke the hug and ran giddily around the room. Angel smiled, but was uneasy about being near insects and amphibians. She did her best to hide it though.

After their lunch, Yuna, Stitch, and Angel went on their walk through the Chitama forest.

The forest was alive with sounds after the tumultuous rain they had had the night before. The water droplets on the leaves and petals of flowers gave of a sparkling gleam in the bright sunshine. Angel purred when she saw this.

"Morecheeba." She said. "See I told you that you'd like it." Yuna said. "The forest is just full of life." Stitch walked next to Angel. He gave her three lovely red flowers he had picked. Angel smiled widely. The water on their petals and leaves shimmered before her eyes. Angel thanked Stitch and kissed his cheek. Stitch blushed. He laughed happily, This walk was going so well. Angel pressed her nose against the flowers. Yuna smiled as she walked. They suddenly heard a buzzing noise. Stitch and Angel's ears perked up. Angel slowly pulled the flowers away from her nose. Yuna and Stitch saw something. "Uh, Angel?" Yuna said. "There's a…" She pointed to her nose.

Angel crossed her eyes to see there was a tiny Japanese beetle sitting there on her nose.

"Eeek!" She squealed. She began flailing around, dropping her flowers. The poor little beetle just flew off of Angel's nose during her little outburst of fear. "Angel relax." Yuna said. "It's gone now."

Angel calmed down instantly. She breathed heavily. "Angel ok?" Stitch asked worriedly.

She nodded. Stitch heaved a sigh of relief. He though for sure he was in for a scolding. "Bugs…" Angel said. "Iky! Naga bootifa!" "Oh, come on Angel." Yuna said. "Bugs aren't all bad." "Blech!" Angel said. They soon saw something hop along the path. A bullfrog. Angel ran to the nearest tree. "It's just a bullfrog." Yuna said. "It won't hurt you." The frog hopped on it's way.  
"Iky!" Angel shouted. "Angel, you really need to respect all life." Yuna said. "Not everything is as cute or pretty as you want it." "Hmm." Angel said looking to the ground. Then out of the blue, a red hairball, hopped from tree to tree and landed right in front of the three travelers.  
The little being removed the hair from his face to reveal himself.  
"Kijumunaa." Yuna said. "What's up?" "Gaba ik?" Stitch asked.

"Boy am I glad to run into you guys." Kijimunaa said to them. "There's trouble at the river."

"What trouble?" Yuna asked. "Follow me." said the little troll like yokai. He hopped down the path and the three travelers followed him, running. They got to the river in a matter of minutes. When they arrived, they were not happy with what greeted them. "Oh no." Yuna said. Before their eyes, Yuna, Stitch, Angel, and Kijimunaa didn't see a beautiful flowing river with water as rich and blue as the sky above them.

Instead, it was brown with all manner of filth. The river stank of untreated sewage and pollution. Bits of garbage and oil spots floated on top of the water. "This is terrible." Yuna said. "I wonder how it happened."

Stitch gagged at the stench. Angel held her nose. "If this doesn't get fixed soon," Kijimunaa said with worry in his voice. "all the animals in the river will die."

"We need to find out where this scuzz is coming from." Yuna said. "Ih!" Stitch said. "We save the river!"  
"Ih!" Angel said. "All right so it's a plan!" Yuna said.

"I'm going to see if there's any other yokai that can help out." Kijimunaa said. "OK, we'll meet up with you later."

Yuna said. Kijimunaa nodded and hopped on his way deep into the forest as fast as he could.  
Together, Yuna, Stitch, and Angel raced off to find the source of the pollution.

As the three ran, they already started to see dead fish starting to float to the surface. "Crabba snabba." Angel said.  
"No kidding crabba snabba." Yuna said. "We need to get to town and tell everyone about this."

"Ih!" Stitch said. Then something caught his eye. "Huh?" Stitch said. "What is it Stitch?" Yuna asked.  
Stitch said something in his alien language and pointed to a shallow spot in the river.

There was something lying in the water. The visibility in the water wasn't to bad, so they could definitely see something. "Gaba iki?" Angel asked.

A lizard like creature was sitting in the water. It seemed lifeless and pale. "It looks like a salamander." Yuna said. Angel cringed at hearing that. Yuna bent down and picked up the little creature, holding it gently in her hands. "Poor thing." Yuna said. It's grayish skin and yellow splotches were pale and not the usually bright and healthy looking. The creature was thin and sickly looking. Suddenly, it moved! Yuna gasped. "It's alive!" Yuna exclaimed.

The creature tried to crawl. The poor amphibian was weak. The very motion seemed to make it exhausted.

Yuna looked at it with compassion. Stitch looked at it with curiosity. Angel just gave it a look of disgust.

"Esa haga blabla?" Stitch asked. "It's sick?" "Very sick." Yuna said. "But it's alive." "Iky!" Angel said. "Naga bootifa!"

"Angel, please." Yuna said. "We have to help him." "Naga!" Angel said. She turned her back to then and crossed her arms in a pout. "Angel…" Stitch said. "Meega naga touch!" Angel said. "No one said you had to touch him Angel." Yuna said. "But he does need our help."

Yuna got off of her knees and stood up. "Let's take him home for now." Yuna said with a smile. "Gramma will know what to do." "Oki takka!" Stitch said. The two started to walk, leaving Angel behind.

Angel didn't like the idea of helping something that looked so ugly to her. But, she swallowed her tongue and followed them. "What do you think we should call him?" Yuna asked as Angel caught up with her and Stitch.  
"Slimy?" Stitch suggested. Yuna giggled. "Nah, I don't think so." She said. "What do you want to name him Angel?"

"Naga!" Angel said. "Iky!" She turned her head away from them. Yuna sighed. "Fine." She said. "Just because I can't think of anything better, we'll call him Iky." Stitch laughed. "Iky the Salamander!" He exclaimed happily. Angel just groaned. No way she was going to touch that sickly little thing. Yuna just sighed and returned her focus to Iky resting in her hands.

The poor creature opened his eyes and looked up at her. Yuna smiled at him. "Don't worry little guy." She thought. "We'll take good care of you." Iky just stared at her. He looked so ill. If he didn't get any care soon, he might not make it.

**_(A/N: _**_**I do not own the characters for they rightfully belong to Disney and Madhouse.  
I give credit to knightcommander for helping me write it. Note that the pollution in the river was NOT caused by Ploot. The focus on the fanfic is mainly on Angel. And how she learns to respect and love all living things and help her character grow a little more. More will come soon. I hope y'all enjoy it. Please R&R and be respectful. Thanks and Mahalo plenty.)  
**_


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"Yuna, what's that you got there?" Gramma asked. She looked to see her granddaughter was cradling something in her hands. Stitch and Angel stood next to her. "We found this salamander at the river." Yuna said. "We named him Iky, and he's very sick." "River all polluted!" Stitch exclaimed. "Polluted?" Gramma asked with worry. "It's all full of garbage and sewage waste." Yuna said. "Oh dear." Yuna's grandmother said. "We were just going to go into town to tell everyone about it." said Yuna. "Then we found Iky. Can't we help him?"

Gramma crouched down to get a better look the ailing amphibian.

The sickly little creature wheezed.  
"Poor little thing." Gramma said. "But I don't think we should give Iky any of the that medicines we use." "Maybe Jumba can help." Yuna suggested. "Ih! Ih!" Stitch said. "Good idea Yuna." said Gramma. Yuna smiled. The gang left and went looking for Jumba. Well, everyone except Angel. She stayed behind with Yuna's grandmother. "Angel, is something wrong?" Gramma asked. "Iky naga bootifa." Angel said to her. She shuddered. "You don't like Iky?" Gramma asked. Angel shook her head.  
"May I ask why?" Gramma asked. "Iky slimy and yucky!" Angel said. "Well that's not a very good reason to dislike something." Gramma said to her. "Just by how they look." "Gaba?" Angel asked. Gramma smiled and nodded.

"You know Angel, all forms of life are very precious." She said getting on her knees. "Not everything is nature is nice looking." She added. "But each has it's own beauty and should be cared for and treated with respect."

"Hmm." Angel said, looking to the ground.

---

"Jumba!" Yuna cried out as her and Stitch ran toward Jumba and Pleakley's little house. "Eh!? What is it?" said a voice. "Hmm? What's going on?" Pleakley said as he was hanging laundry with little Boogoo. Yuna and Stitch ran past him. The bulky form of Jumba came into view. "Little girl and 626." Jumba said. "What is it?"

"We need your help." Yuna said. She let Jumba look at sick little Iky resting in her hands. "Iky haga blabla." Stitch said. "Iky?" Pleakley asked walking up to them. "That's the name we gave this salamander." Yuna said.

"Ah." Jumba said. "This very sick animal you have here." "We found him at the river in the forest." Yuna said. "It's all polluted up with sewage and junk." "Kijimunaa say animals die if not cleaned up." Stitch said.

"Did someone say clean up?" Pleakley asked. They were all shocked to see that he quickly changed his clothes and was wearing a French maid's outfit complete with vacuum cleaner and feather duster. Jumba sighed.

"Oh Pleakley…" Yuna exasperated. "Anyway, we need to be finding proper treatment for amphibian." Jumba said. "Follow me to lab and we shall see what salamander species Iky is." "We better be quick. The more we wait, more animals will get sick and die from the scuzz at the river." Yuna said. "Ih." Stitch said. He noticed something. "Where Angel?" "Probably still with Gramma. C'mon we better hurry." Yuna said.

---

"This machine will tell us what we need to do." Jumba said, putting Iky in a scanner. Yuna rubbed some hand sanitizer on her hands. The machine began to whir. Iky lay there motionless as a light ran over him, gathering his genetic information. Jumba carefully watched the readout, while the others waited anxiously for the results.  
Without anyone noticing, Angel came up rejoining them. She took her place next to Stitch. Stitch just smiled at her. Angel replied with only a slight smile.

The machine beeped, and Jumba read the full readout. "Well well." Jumba said. "It appears that Iky is an Oki Salamander. A rare and critically endangered species." Yuna gasped softly.  
"Gaba iki endangered species?" Stitch asked.

"A creature in danger of extinction." said Jumba. "You see, some animals on Earth have such low numbers, they're in danger of vanishing completely." Yuna said. "Their numbers are getting smaller and smaller because of things humans do like hunting them, or taking away their homes or polluting."

Stitch gulped. "Fortunately there are people who care enough to do something about it." Yuna said.

"Like you?" Stitch asked. Yuna smiled. "That's right and you'll help too right Stitch?" She asked. "Ih!" Stitch said. "Esa meega good deed!" "Awesome. First we need to let the people in town know what's going on." Yuna said.  
"I will stay here and figure out treatment for Iky." Jumba said. "I'll stay too Jumba." Pleakley said. "You're going to need a nurse." "I will be needing you for nurse like be needing a heartburn." Jumba said.  
"You can go help clean and 624 can stay and assist me." "What?" Pleakley said. Yuna just tugged on his arm. "C'mon Pleakley." Yuna said. "We could use your help." "Well ok." said Pleakley. "If cleaning up is involved then I'm in!"  
"Boogoo!" said the little creature that hovered next to him. "All right then it's a plan!" Yuna said.  
"Uh, meega stay?" Angel asked with worry. "With…" She looked at the machine that held Iky inside.  
"Don't worry Angel." Yuna said. "Staying here is going to be a lot less gross than cleaning up the river."

She remembered the stench of the river and the yucky brown water. "Hmm…Oki takka…" Angel said reluctantly.

"Thanks Angel." Yuna said. "Takka bujiboo." Stitch said hugging her.  
She hugged him back, the inward she was squirming. She hated the idea of being stuck with that icky thing.  
"All right then." said Yuna, "Stitch and Pleakley you're with me."

"Oki takka!" Stitch said.

"You got it." Pleakley said. "Oh, would this dress be appropriate?" He asked.  
Yuna rolled her eyes. "Not really." She said. "Besides, right now we need to go into town to tell everyone. We better get going."

The three along with Boogoo ran out of the lab and headed for town, leaving Jumba, Angel, and Iky behind.

"All right 624." Jumba said. "Let us be getting to work." Angel took another look at Iky. She saw him laying there in the scanner. Pale, weak, and motionless. She remember what Gramma said about every creature having it's own beauty. But how could something as sickly looking as Iky have any beauty at all?

---

"Hey everyone! We need your help!" Yuna cried out standing in the middle of the street with her friends.

No one paid attention. Yuna tried again. "Hey everyone!" She shouted. Stitch shouted something in his alien language very loudly. "Pipe down!" Someone yelled. Yuna growled in frustration. "I though you said there were people who care." Pleakley said. Then they heard something like a bell from a bicycle. "Officer Suzuki!" Yuna said as she saw the said police officer and student of her karate dojo riding up. "He'll listen to us." She said.

Suzuki rode up to them. "Hey Yuna." He said with a smile. "What's up?"

"River in trouble!" Stitch said. "What Stitch means is that the river in the Chitama forest is all loaded up with garbage, and waste." Yuna said.

Officer Suzuki got a grim look on his face. "Show me please." He asked. "Maka maka, sasa!" Stitch said. He took off full speed for the forest. "Boy, Stitch sure can run!" Officer Suzuki said as he, riding his bike, and the others ran after him.

Within minutes. they were at the river. "It's worse than I imagined." Pleakley said. "Boogoo…" Boogoo said sadly. "Goodness gracious." Officer Suzuki said as he looked over the river. "This is serious." "Any idea of what caused it?" Yuna asked. "Sewage spill, no doubt." He said. "I can tell by the smell." "We fix it?" Stitch asked. "We're going to need a lot of help." Suzuki said. "But no one in town would care to listen except you." Pleakley said. "No worries. I'm a cop." Suzuki said. Yuna smiled. "All right let's get to it!" Yuna said.

---

Angel stood in a corner of the room while Jumba worked. Iky was placed in a terrarium filled with sand, water and some rocks. Jumba was analyzing something. "Interesting." Jumba said. "Gaba?" Angel asked.

"Treatment for salamander will be simple." He said. "You got him from polluted river before further damage could be done. Very lucky." He smiled. "Good work." He said. "Hmm." Angel said. She asked what the treatment would be. "Simple anti-toxins." He said. "The sickness is caused by bacteria from untreated sewage." Angel nodded in understanding "Is also in need of food." Jumba added. "What food?" She asked. "Let us see." He said, doing a Net search. "Hmm." Jumba said. "Seems like insects and worms are proper food source for Iky."

Angel groaned. "624, I will be needing you to find food for Iky." Jumba said to her. Angel groaned again.

"No complaining." He said firmly. "Meega soka." Angel said. She looked to the ground. She did _not _take a vacation just to mess with bugs and salamanders.

"Now I know you don't like insects." Jumba said. "But don't worry, Jumba will give you gloves and anything else you need." He said.

Soon Angel found herself digging in the ground for worms with a trowel. "Blech…" She said. She cautiously picked up a worm with a gloved hand. She took a look at it wriggling between her fingers and she squealed and quickly put it in a pail Jumba had given her. Angel sighed. "I am not enjoying this." She said to herself in her alien language.

She sat down on a nearby log. Angel sighed again. How was she going to help if she couldn't overcome her squeamishness?

---

Back in the town, Stitch, Yuna, Pleakley, Boogoo, and Suzuki were gathering up as many people as possible to help clean up the river. Pleakley and Suzuki gathered up some adults that were willing to help. Stitch asked his cousins Sparky and Felix to help out. They happily agreed. "Dirty!" Felix cheered happily.

Yuna gathered her friends from her dojo. Taro, little JJ, and Tombo all agreed to help. Even Sae offered a helping hand. Yuna was pleased. Then she ran into a problem. "What do you mean you won't help out?" Yuna asked a particular group of kids. "You heard me." A blonde haired, snarky girl said. "But Penny we could really use your help." Yuna said. "Every person counts." Penny put her fists to her hips. Her brother Kenny, and their friends Masa and Taka stood with her.

"I'm not going to waste my time cleaning up some smelly river. Especially with you." Penny said.

"Besides, chances are it would get dirty again so what's the point?" Kenny asked.

"The point is, that we need all the help we can get or else everything in that river will die." Yuna said.

"So?" Penny asked. "Maybe if people were more careful the river wouldn't be like that." Yuna got angry.

"You know I'm helping out." Sae said to them. Kenny's cheeks instantly became red. "Cool I'll help out too." He said. "Here we go again." said the redhead Masa. Yuna giggled. _"Poor Kenny has it bad." _She thought. Penny growled. She didn't like seeing her brother crushing on Sae. "Oh come off it." Yuna said. Stitch growled right back at her. Just then, a news van rolled by.

"Where going?" Stitch asked. "Might be doing a report on the river." Taro said. "Funny how news can spread so fast." "A news report?" Penny said. "Looks like it." said Sae

"_If I help out while they're doing the news," _Penny thought. _"I can finally get my spot in the limelight. I'll be famous!" _"Fine I'll help out too." Penny said. "You will?" Yuna asked happily. "Awesome!"

"But first I need to pick out an outfit for the reporters!" Penny said.

"You might want to wear something germproof." Taro said. "Are you kidding?" Penny said. "I want to look my best! Come on guys let's go!" And with that, Penny, Masa, and Kenny left with Taka dragging a lovesick Kenny by his arm. Yuna sighed. "She never learns." She said.

---

"Good work 624." Jumba said. He chuckled at Angel. Her fur was covered in dirt spots and bits of grass. She held a pail full of bugs and had a sour expression on her face. She groaned. All that work for such a little salamander.

Jumba took the bugs. "You can go wash up now." He said. "Jumba will take care of everything. Has made perfect antibiotic for Iky. Was really quite simple. You see first I put in…" He paused after seeing Angel had already left. He was now alone with Iky and the pail of bugs. "Heh." Jumba said. "Best to get started then."

---

By now Angel had dried herself off with a towel after showering. Happy to get all of that dirt off of her. She sighed with content. She took out a brush and began to brush her fur. "Oh 624!" Jumba's booming voice called out. Angel sighed. She feared she would have to do something involving bugs again. But she reluctantly went to Jumba.

Yuna's grandmother secretly watched her leave. She gave a proud smile at her. "It'll all be worth it Angel." She said softly.

Angel walked back up to Jumba's lab. "624, I will be needing you to be keeping eye on Iky." Jumba said.

"Gaba?" She asked. "Jumba needs to run out and pick up equipment fixing whatever caused pollution." said Jumba. "You can stay here and watch him." Angel's eyes went wide.

"Relax, I won't be gone long." Jumba said getting up. Angel stuttered something to protest but she had nothing to say. Jumba pet her before leaving. Angel was alone now. Alone with Iky. She looked at the tank that held the little salamander. "Hmm." Angel said. She found herself deep in thought. She slowly walked over to the terrarium as echoes of words flooded her mind.

Angel remembered that Jumba said that Oki Salamanders were critically endangered. _"Fortunately there are people who care enough to do something about it." _Yuna's voice said in her head. Angel wondered why anyone would care for something as unappealing as a creature like Iky.

She then remembered what Yuna's grandmother said to her. _"Not everything is nature is nice looking." _Gramma's voice in her head said to her_. "But each has it's own beauty and should be cared for and treated with respect."_

Angel kept walking to the glass tank, focusing on poor little Iky. He still looked ill. Jumba had already given him antitoxins but it would be a little while before they would take effect.

She soon made it to the little table the terrarium sat on. "Hmm." Angel said. She sat down on the floor and placed her crossed arms on the table and sat her head in her arms. The little creature seemed to look at her. "Huh?" Angel asked. She looked at him with curiosity in place of disgust. Angel cocked her head a little. The little salamander then began to hobble closer to the glass.  
He got there slowly for he was still weak. But he did seem to be getting better.  
He put one forefoot against the glass. Angel was surprised at this. "Gaba?" She wondered. Iky just stared at Angel.  
Angel was amazed. It was as though the salamander was... no way, it couldn't be.

It couldn't be reaching out to her. Could it? Angel was silent for a moment. The salamander just looked at her. "Hmm." Angel said. "Iky hungry?" She asked. Angel got up and went for the pail of bugs. Angel gulped, closed her eyes and picked up a small worm.  
"Ew..." She whimpered. She really wished she put on gloves first.

Too late now, as she opened the terrarium. She quickly dropped the worm next to Iky and quickly shut the lid.

Angel shook off that vile skin crawling feeling. "Blech!" She said. Angel returned her focus to Iky.

The creature began to weakly eat. Angel cringed at the sight of it, but she quickly got over it as soon as Iky finished eating.  
The little salamander looked at her once again. Angel stared back at it. "  
H-hi." She found herself saying

Iky crawled closer. "Hmm." Angel said. She opened the terrarium once again.

She took a few deep breaths. She closed her eyes and slowly reached her pink hand inside. She felt waves of disgust go over her, but she kept reaching. Angel took her hand back slightly once but soon, pink fur met moist skin.

She winced and whimpered a little bit. She slowly opened her eyes. Angel was surprised to see and feel little Iky, what it seemed to be, nuzzling her fingers.

She was surprised by this. It was as though the creature liked her. Despite the urge to wince, she felt something come across her face. A slight smile.**__**

(A/N: Awww. Angel has seemed to grow a fondness of little Iky. Once again credit goes to knightcommander for help with writing this. Characters belong to Disney and Madhouse. One more chapter to go after this. Please R&R and be respectful. Thank you.)


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"Coming to you live from the Chitama river, this is Keiko Matsumura with Channel 6 news." said the reporter. "As you can see here the cleanup still continues from the pollution discovered only a week ago by a local girl Yuna and friends." The cameras focused on volunteers cleaning various forms of gunk. Penny freaked out as soon as a camera focused on her. She wore a hot pink party dress with black trim. "No wait, I'm not ready!" She yelped.

She was right. Her outfit was covered in smudges of sewage. Her blonde hair was all frizzed up. "Get that camera off of me!" Penny yelled.

The reporter laughed. "Construction workers have concluded that a burst sewer pipe was the cause of the spill that contaminated the river." said Keiko.

The program cut to an interview with a worker. "Yeah." said the worker. "A bunch of these pipes have been rusted and worn over time." "How long until you think the pipes will be repaired?" asked the interviewer.

"This break is pretty significant." He said. "We're looking at, at least couple hours."

The program cut back to the report back at the river.

"Thank you." said the reporter. "Experts are saying the river will recover quickly due to Yuna's quick thinking, but as you can imagine, it's going to take a while to get the smell out." Keiko smiled. "But with all the help we have here that could be sooner than you think." She said. "This is Keiko Matsumura with Channel 6 news."

Stitch, who was watching the report, cackled when she saw Penny. "Poor Penny." Yuna said between giggles. Stitch was rolled on the floor in his laughter. "All right that's enough you two." Gramma said coming in. "Yuna, how come you're not at the river helping out?" She asked with curiosity. "I wanted to check on Iky." said Yuna.

"And Angel." Stitch added. Gramma just smiled.

---

Jumba was busy in his lab, working on yet another invention. "Wow Jumba Iky sure looks a who lot better." Yuna said as she, Stitch, and Angel looked into his tank.

"Oh yes." He said with a smile. "Nothing cures a sick creature like tender loving care... and a good antibiotic." He said with a grin. Iky looked up from his tank to Yuna and Stitch with wonder. He certainly did look a lot better.

His coloring and diet had improved. "Most credit is belonging to 624." said Jumba.

"Huh? Really?" Yuna asked. She looked at Angel, who was smiling at her. "I thought you didn't like Iky." Yuna said with a giggle. "Iky esa bootifa." Angel said. "Naga iky."

Stitch laughed and hugged her. "Angel good nurse." Stitch said. Angel returned the hug. Iky looked at Angel.

He crawled up near the glass. Angel smiled at him. Iky put a forefoot against the glass.

She put her finger against it as well. "Aww that's sweet." Yuna said. "Ih." Stitch said smiling.

"Shame those pipes will take a few hours to install." said Yuna. "Fortunately Jumba has little patience." said Jumba. "Huh?" Yuna asked. "New invention will be for fixing sewer line." said Jumba. Everyone smiled at this except for Angel. She was to preoccupied with Iky. "What is it?" Yuna asked. "Jumba will be right back." He said, leaving outside. Yuna and Stitch were very curious as to what Jumba had in store for them. Jumba came back with what looked like a very large tub of butter. "Whoa, what's that?" Yuna asked. "My solution for fixing the blasted pipes." He said. "Butter?" Stitch asked. Jumba laughed. "Nope." He said, opening the container. "Is ultra-strong polymer based plastic." He said. "How will that fix the pipes?" Yuna asked. "Follow me to repair site and Jumba will show you." said Jumba. Stitch and Yuna nodded. They followed Jumba downstairs, out of his lab leaving Angel behind. Yuna came back up. "Angel aren't you coming?" She asked. "Naga takka." Angel said with a smile. "Meega stay with Iky." "Well ok." said Yuna. "Suit yourself." Yuna went back down the stairs.

Angel purred at Iky. She went and picked up the little salamander out of his terrarium and held him gently in her hands. She smiled at him and pet his little head with her finger.

"Meega take care of Iky." Angel said. "Iky new pet."

---

Jumba took them out to where the pipe had burst. "What's going on?" Pleakely asked. Little Boogoo hovered next to him. "You didn't hear?" Yuna asked. "I was exfoliating." He said indignantly. "Jumba found a way to fix the pipes." Yuna said. "How?" Pleakley asked. "With some plastic goop stuff he made." said Yuna.

"Is high strength, environmentally strength, space age polymer." He said, rather indignantly. He didn't like it when his inventions were called silly names. "Right sorry." said Yuna. "So what's the plan?" "Is very simple." said Jumba. "Quick drying polymer will be molded around rusty pipe." "The whole thing?" Yuna asked. "That is being the plan." Jumba said.

They looked down the seven foot drop to where the pipe had been excavated. "Deep." Stitch said.

"And that pipe doesn't look good either." Pleakley added. "Boogoo.." Boogoo said agreeing.

Indeed. The pipe had a huge rust hole right in the middle of the pipe. The rest of the pipe, all twenty feet of it, was covered in brown rust spots large and small. There were even parts where it looked like more holes were forming.

"Naga bootifa." Stitch said. "Time for us to get to work." Jumba said. "So what's putting that stuff around the pipe going to do?" Pleakley asked. "It will harden into nigh indestructible plastic." Jumba said as he opened the large tub of polymer. "Will replace pipe should it rust away." "Sounds awesome." Yuna said smiling. "Yes but must being applied quickly before it hardens." Jumba said. "Ok." Yuna said. "Who's ready?" She asked.

"We are!" Stitch and Pleakley exclaimed. Boogoo cheered.

---

Back at Yuna's house, Angel was happily playing with Iky in the grass. She had a large bowl out incase she felt he wanted to go swimming. Angel giggled happily. Iky kept crawling over her feet. "Tickles." Angel said. She picked up the little salamander. She nuzzled him. "I see you've grown a liking to Iky." Gramma said coming up to her. Angel nodded. "Mm-hmm." She said. Gramma sat on the grass next to her. Angel purred and stroked Iky gently with her finger. "I'm sure Iky will be happy once he's back home in the river." said Gramma. "Huh?" Angel asked. She was confused. "Naga." She said shaking her head. "Iky esa new pet." "New pet?" Gramma asked. "Ih." Angel said. "Meega take good care of him." Gramma just smiled. "Angel," She began. "I'm afraid you can't keep Iky as a pet."

"Huh?" Angel asked. Grandma shook her head. "Iky belongs in the wild Angel." She said. "Naga." Angel said. She started to feel her heart break. She whimpered. She looked at Iky as she cradled him in her hands. Iky looked back up to Angel. Angel whimpered again. Gramma just put her hand on Angel's shoulder.

---

The others, meanwhile, were busy working on the pipe. So far they were halfway done.

Which was good, because the heat and the smell were starting to get to them. Stitch and Jumba applied the polymer putty by hand onto the rusty pipe, while Yuna, Pleakley and some workers smoothed it out.

Yuna wiped the sweat off her brow with her wrist then went back to smoothing out the polymer substance with a putty knife. "Man this is hard." Yuna said. "Ih." Stitch said. He reached his hands into the tub of polymer substance. He scooped some more onto the pipe. "Huh?" Stitch said. He noticed something different about the putty. It started to feel more firm in his hands. "Choota!" He said, trying to shake it off. "The polymer is starting to harden." Jumba said. "Uh oh!" Stitch yelped. He tried to wipe the glop off. "But we're only halfway done!" Yuna said with worry. "What'll we do?" Pleakley said. Stitch looked at the tools, and then took his extra arms out.

He giggled. He had an idea.

Before anyone could ask, Stitch went right to work. He rapidly slathered polymer onto the pipe fast as greased lightning. Everyone watched in amazement. When he was done, he did a back flip and landed. "Tada!" He exclaimed proudly. "Way to go Stitch!" Yuna cheered. He bowed. "Thank you." said Stitch. "Thank you very much." As Stitch bowed, there came a beeping from his bottom left arm. "Hmm?" Stitch asked. He looked at his Good Deed Counter on his wrist. To his surprise, the number of deeds, originally fourteen, had raised to sixteen.

"Wow!" Stitch said. "Double points!" Yuna smiled as she heard this while running to him. Pleakley came up and saw. "Huh?" He asked. "Why did it raise two good deeds higher?" "One for helping at the river and one for fixing the pipe." Yuna said.  
Stitch laughed and cheered while spinning on his head in a celebratory fashion. Yuna giggled at him. Jumba chuckled and placed his hand in the polymer covered pipe. "Being as solid as rock. Safe and sound." Jumba said, patting the pipe.  
"That's awesome!" Yuna said. "Now all that's left is to rebury the pipe." said a construction worker. "Thanks a lot guys." He said, referring to Yuna and her friends. "We'll take it from here."

Yuna smiled and nodded. "You got it." She said with a thumbs up. "Let's get going back home." She added. "All that work here worked me up an appetite." "Ih! Ih!" Stitch said excitedly. "I'm hungry!" "No surprise there." Pleakley said.  
Boogoo agreed.

---

Angel had by now had taken Iky back to his terrarium now placed in on the table of the dining area. She sat at that small table with her head resting in her crossed arms. Angel sighed. A million thoughts were going through her head. On one hand, she felt Gramma could be right. On the other, she loved Iky and didn't want to let her little pet go. Angel sighed again as she watched Iky sleep.

"Hi Angel!" Yuna said cheerfully. Her, Stitch, Pleakley, Jumba, Boogoo, and Gramma came up to the hut. "Bujiboo!" Stitch cheered. He ran up to her and gave her a big hug. But Angel didn't pay any attention to Stitch.

Stitch was confused. "Angel?" He asked. Angel just sighed. "Angel what's wrong?" Yuna asked.

"Iky." Angel simply said. "She's upset because Iky's has to go back to the river." Gramma said. "Oh." Yuna said.

She walked up to her. "You know Angel." Yuna said. "Iky does belong back at the river. Everything he needs to live and be happy is there." Angel looked at them. She said something in an alien language in a pleading manner. "624 is saying that she would take good care of salamander." said Jumba. "That she could take him on tour, feed him insects, play with him, and make sure his tank is clean."

"But Angel," Yuna said. "I don't think Iky would be happy being in that terrarium for the rest of his life. How would you like it if some kept you cooped up all your life?" "Hmm…" Angel said. She never thought of that. Then Angel remembered something. "Iky endangered species." She said. "Meega can protect." "Not by cooping him up." Yuna said. "He needs to be free so the species can continue." Angel bent her ears back in sadness. She felt her heart break. But, Angel knew, they were right. She nodded in understanding. Then she returned her focus to the sleeping salamander.

---

"This is Keiko Matsumura from the Channel 6 news coming to you live from the Chitama River." said the reporter as she stood in front of the river. "With the help of local volunteers, the city is happy to report that the Chitama river is now clean and free of all contaminants." She said. The cameraman recorded the site of the river.

A fish hopped up. "And the animals are certainly appreciative." said Keiko. Indeed. The water was now clean and clear and it reflected the blue sky above.

"Environmental officials predict the effects on the local ecosystem will be at a minimum, thanks to quick action on behalf of the community." She reported.

"In other news, the mayor has announced that young Yuna and her family will be given an award later tomorrow afternoon at city hall." She said. "Hey!" shouted a shrill voice. Right in Keiko's shot stepped in Penny. All cleaned up and ready to take the spotlight. "Hi everyone!" She said. "Um miss." Keiko said to her. "You're interrupting my report." "Oh please." Penny said. "Why waste your time with this when you can do a celebrity interview." "Uh young lady…" Ms Matsumura said. Penny interrupted her. "After all." She said. "I was a big help cleaning up this river. And now I think it's about time I got some notification for it." Keiko looked at her cameraman with confusion. "First off my outfit." said Penny. "It's custom made." She gave a little twirl for the camera.

Just as she was about to do another twirl, she suddenly lost balance. "Ah!" She exclaimed. She fell bottom first in to the river. "Ahh! This dress is dry clean only!" Penny shouted. The camera crew laughed. Keiko giggled then faced the camera once more. "Before there are any more interruptions, this is Keiko Matsumura, channel 6 news." She said. "Saying that thanks to the tender loving care given to the river, life here can thrive happily once again."

---

The sun was beginning to set after a long day's work when Yuna and her family returned to the river.

Angel stood at the river's edge, holding Iky in her hands. She looked at him with sadness. Yuna, Stitch and the others stood a few yards away from her, watching. Angel sniffled. "Meega will miss you." She said stroking him gently. The creature looked at Angel. "Iky be good." Angel said.

Angel could swear she saw him smile at her. She managed to show a little smile back at him. "Iky go find bujiboo ok?" Angel asked. Iky was silent. But in a way, he seemed to understand her. Angel looked back at the group behind her. Yuna and Gramma nodded. It was time. Angel nodded back and got on her knees to the waters edge. "Bye bye." She said softly. Angel placed Iky in the water. Iky started to swim off, but not before looking at Angel one last time. He soon submerged under the water and swam away. Angel sniffled and slowly got up. She walked back to Stitch, Yuna, and the others. She whimpered. Tears could be seen in her eyes. "Oh, bujiboo." Stitch said sympathetically. Angel went up and gave Stitch a big hug. She began to sniffle. Stitch wrapped his arms around Angel to comfort her. Yuna crouched down and hugged them both. "I'm really proud of you Angel." Yuna said smiling. Angel just kept crying. "Meega proud too Angel." Stitch said. Her sniffling lessened. "You know Angel," Gramma said to her. "it's ok to miss Iky. I believe we can consider him Ichariba Chodei. Meet once, cousins forever." "Just like o'hana." Stitch said. Angel stopped sniffling for a minute. She wiped the tears from her eyes.

"Meega see Iky again someday?" Angel asked. "Perhaps." Grandma said. "It is possible."

Angel looked at them. She felt something else rising in her. She broke her hug with Stitch and ran for the river. Everyone gasped. "Angel! What are you doing!?" Yuna called out. Her and Stitch ran after her. Angel stopped at the river's edge where she had been before. Angel cried out. "Iky is o'hana!" She said. Stitch and Yuna stood on either side of Angel. "Ichariba chodei!" Stitch cried out to the horizon. Angel felt a little bit better. Though she still missed Iky. She just stared at the setting sun. She sighed. "It'll be ok Angel." said Yuna. "Ih." Stitch agreed. Angel turned and smiled at them. She considered herself lucky to have such good friends. Then out of the blue, a little beetle came flying through, then rested on Angel's nose. "Huh?" She said. "Uh oh." Stitch said. He and Yuna worried if she was going to react like last time. Then Angel suddenly smiled. She raise her finger to her nose, allowing the beetle to crawl onto it.  
The beetle flexed it's wings before flying off. Stitch smiled. Then he had a sudden thought. "Angel did good deed." He said. "Yep she sure did." said Yuna. Angel smiled and purred. "Meega did?" She asked. "You bet." said Yuna. Angel grinned. Stitch hugged her once again. Angel returned the hug and added a kiss on the cheek and rubbed her nose against his.  
Stitch blushed. The adults behind looked at them. Pleakley wiped his teary eye with a tissue. "What a beautiful story." He said. "Don't be thinking of filming for that TV show again." Jumba said. "Why bother I left the camera at home anyway." said Pleakley. Stitch, Angel, and Yuna kept watching the sun set. They all relaxed and reflected.  
They remembered finding Iky so sick in the contaminated water and that Angel had an instant dislike of him. But then, Angel warmed up to him and nursed him back to health. Angel felt rather good about herself for that one. And she should have. Thanks to her and her new love for that little salamander, there was a chance that the Oki Salamander species would thrive again. And that just made them all, especially Angel, smile a little more.

_The End_

**_(A/N: And it is done baby! What did y'all think? I have to give credit to knightcommander again. Don't think I could have written this without him. Please R&R and be respectful. Thanks and mahalo plenty. I hope y'all enjoyed this. Catch ya later! ^^)  
_**


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